Editorial News of Wednesday, 9 May 2001

Source: --

Thieves ransack military vehicles

The Accra Mail asks whether it is a mark of courage or foolhardiness to rob the military and says whatever is the case, that is the humiliation that the Ghana Armed Forces have suffered at the Tema Port.

It says under the eagle eyes of the Eastern Naval Command and a motley of other security personnel it is inconceivable that thieves can be having such a field day at this most important port in the country, the practice having become a norm that needs a firm action on the part of government to stem.

The Ghana Armed Forces, according the Mail recently imported over three hundred vehicles including Toyota Landcruisers and Toyota Hiace buses for the country's Army from Lebanon. The soldiers who were serving under the UN in that country arranged to have their personal belongings put in the vehicles for what they might have thought was a safe was to have one's things sent home. Things did not however go their way as the 'harbour thieves' preying the facility swooped on the vehicles making away with a respectable booty.

A probe into the affair showed the involvement of some soldiers. A civilian driver who was carting away some of the booty has been arrested and is being investigated by the Military Police.

The Commanding Officer of the Military Police, in a telephone interview with the paper said that efforts by his formation have yielded fruits and some of the items have been recovered.